STRAHAN & STRAHAN (INSTRUCTION TO VALUER AND SUBPOENA)

In the matter of *Strahan & Strahan (Instruction to Valuer and Subpoena)*, Justice Ryan of the Family Court of Australia considered a dispute between the parties regarding instructions to a single expert valuer and an application for leave to issue subpoenas. The parties had agreed that updated valuation reports were required, but disagreed on the specific instructions to be provided to the valuer.

The court was required to determine the appropriate instructions for the valuer, particularly concerning the level of investigation to be undertaken and the entities and documents to be included in the valuation. Additionally, the court had to consider whether to grant the wife leave to issue subpoenas for the production of documents from specified entities.

Justice Ryan ordered that the parties jointly instruct Ms E to update her valuation reports, applying the "mid-level procedures" as defined in a letter from TT Accountants dated 20 November 2007. The court stipulated that if Ms E sought to apply a higher level of investigation without the agreement of both parties, either party or Ms E could relist the proceedings on that issue. The entities to be valued were to include those identified in the parties' draft letters of instruction, along with a list of specific companies. The documents to be provided to Ms E were also detailed, comprising those from the husband's draft letter, more recent documents of the same type, and specific documents from the wife's draft letter. The wife was granted leave to issue subpoenas for documents annexed to her written submissions, to be made returnable before the Docket Registrar.